Christopher Nolan Confirms How ‘Troy’ Removal Inspired ‘The Odyssey’

by

Christopher Nolan is known for intense, thrilling films, and Batman Begins launched him into large-scale blockbuster filmmaking. He recently shared that he almost directed the 2004 film Troy before Wolfgang Peterson took on the project. While Troy isn’t widely remembered now, working with that material sparked Nolan’s interest in epic adventures, an interest he’s now exploring fully with his upcoming film, The Odyssey. Considering Peterson was a more established director at the time, it’s interesting to imagine what Nolan’s version of Troy would have been like with fewer resources, and how a potential failure might have changed the course of his career. Nolan has mentioned his near-miss with Troy before, but recently explained that it was a key inspiration for his new project.

According to World of Reel, Christopher Nolan recently told Empire Magazine that he’s been surprised by a recent turn in his career.

I first signed on to direct Troy at Warner Bros. after Wolfgang Petersen had already done a lot of work on it. When the studio passed on his superhero film, he asked to get Troy back. I was always fascinated by the story and its visuals – especially how to depict something like the Trojan horse – so it stayed with me for years.

The epic film Troy, featuring a star-studded cast including Brad Pitt and Orlando Bloom, cost over $175 million to make and earned close to $500 million globally. Despite this financial success in 2004, it only received a 54% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. In comparison, Batman Begins, with a budget of $150 million and worldwide earnings of $375 million, boasts a much higher 85% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes, even though its return on investment wasn’t quite as impressive.

How ‘Batman Begins’ Changed the World of Superheroes


Warner Bros.

Superman and Batman were huge hits in movies during the 1970s, 80s, and early 90s, but by 1997, the Batman films had become much more colorful and less serious with Batman & Robin. With DC heroes taking a break from the big screen, Marvel stepped in with films like Blade, X-Men, and Spider-Man, each one more popular than the last. While Marvel embraced the fun side of their characters, Christopher Nolan brought a darker, more realistic tone back to Batman. Although Batman Begins didn’t make as much money as some other films at the time, it reignited interest in the character. Nolan’s sequel, The Dark Knight, was a massive success, earning over $1 billion worldwide, receiving overwhelmingly positive reviews (94% on Rotten Tomatoes), and winning Heath Ledger a posthumous Oscar for his performance as the Joker.

Even now, The Dark Knight remains a top-tier superhero film with a lasting influence on popular culture. While realistic and serious takes on comic book characters are common now, Batman Begins pioneered this approach. Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight trilogy not only established him as a skilled director of large-budget films, but also proved his commercial appeal. He continued to demonstrate his critical and financial success with films like Inception, Interstellar, Dunkirk, and Oppenheimer, consistently earning praise and delivering strong box office results.

Nolan likely could have made a Troy movie work, but it probably wouldn’t have matched his full creative vision at that stage in his career. A less successful Troy could also have damaged his reputation and affected future films. If Peterson had directed Batman vs Superman, the superhero movies we see today would probably be very different.

Read More

2025-11-22 05:03